small bronze wall-mounted shield with olive wreath symbol of achievement

The ancient aspis or hoplon was the lynchpin of the Classical Greek land-based hoplite phalanx of tighly-packed interlocking ranks of infantry. Each hoplite soldier would hold his massive shield in front of him - 1m or so in diameter, made of wood and covered with bronze - to protect not only himself, but the chap next to him as well. This extraordinary powerful military formation was considered a symbol of cohesion and tactical discipline that defined ancient Greek warfare.

Towards the end of the 6th C BCE, the new hoplite phenomenon resulted in a class of Athenian citizens who were not only a formidable military force, but who realised that they also held considerable political leverage. The resulting upheaval led to the evolution of Athenian Democracy in the last decade of that century. 10 years later, at the Battle of Marathon, it was these hoplites who put the new shield-wall phalanx into practice, to defeat the Persian army.

At Marathon in 490BC, however, you have seen no uniform design on the shields, as there was no standardisation or 'state identity' as yet. Instead, the battlefield was awash with a colourful chaos of shields, variously painted with family crests, mythical beasts, and loud geometric patterns!

Medusa was one of the most popular choices. Her hideous, glaring face with snaky locks was intended to 'freeze' and 'petrify' opponents with terror! Pegasus appeared on shields from Corinth, and the club of Herakles on shields from Thebes. Lower budget options included geometric motifs such as the Greek key meandros.

The Spartan LAMBDA (Λ), the most famous shield emblem in ancient history, is an interesting one. Leonidas - with the 300 - is often represented as carrying the hoplon emblazoned with the (painted) LAMBDA, but the massive wall of uniform LAMBDA shields didn't even exist in 480BCE at the Battle of Thermopylae! It was introduced during the Peloponnesian War (431-404BCE) between Sparta and Athens, when the Spartan government replaced the hitherto 'individual' choice of artwork in favour of a single letter representing the State.

The owl of Athena was used by the Athenians, especially towards the end of the 5thC BCE during the bitter conflict with Sparta.

The bronze pieces are cast in Greece using the traditional lost wax method. As nothing is mass-produced, there will inevitably be slight variations in texture, patina, and colour. No two pieces are ever the same. If mounted on a marble base, it will be a black or very dark grey base. There may be a variation of some millimetres in the dimensions of the base from time to time.

It's All Greek is so grateful and so proud to have been working closely with the Semitekolo family foundry since 1999. It has been a privilege and a joy to handle, live with, and photograph these gorgeous pieces and to pass them on to customers all over the world.

The olive was the trademark of Athena, multi-faceted goddess of wisdom, intelligence, strategic thought, and female crafts.

Athena defeated her uncle Poseidon in a contest which had been set up to establish which of them would become the protector deity of a hitherto unnamed city in Attica. Poseidon had offered the city a roaring saltwater spring, whereas Athena knelt on the Akropolis and planted a single olive tree, offering the citizens the gifts of oil, food, and light. Thereafter the city was named Athens. You can see an olive tree there today, next to the Erechtheion, the temple dedicated to the thwarted uncle and his shrewd niece.

The olive tree became a symbol of resilience. Herodotus wrote that it was assumed that when the Persians had sacked Athens and set fire to the Akropolis in 480 BCE, the sacred olive had been destroyed. Yet, the very next morning, a green shoot almost a meter long, had miraculously appeared! It became a powerful symbol of rebirth, renewal, and transformation, a reflection of the indomitable spirit of Athens and her citizens. Cuttings (moriai) from this tree, were then planted across Attica, so that every ancient Athenian olive-grove shared the DNA of the goddess’s original gift!

The olive appears on the famous Athenian owl tetradrachm coin, and is a recurrent motif in ancient Greek art, whenever Athena is depicted. Nike, the goddess of Victory, and a deity closely associated with Athena, is often depicted with an olive wreath, which she would place on the head of a victorious athlete.

The ultimate prize for champions at the ancient Olympic Games, held in honour of Zeus, was not gold, but a simple wreath woven from the wild olive (kotinos) —a tree said to have been ripped from the earth and planted at Olympia by Zeus' son, Herakles himself. The hero even fashioned his signature weapon, a mighty, unbreakable club, from raw wild olive wood.

The Greek key, meandros or meander motif appears throughout ancient Greek art, from the Geometric period onwards. A symbol of eternity and of the eternal flow of things, it is also thought to represent the maze, and the eternal quest for truth.

In its most basic form, it is a linear pattern, composed of a long, continuous line, like the winding course of the river Maeander in Asia Minor. Some say that the twisting pattern mimics the serpent, symbol of guardianship and healing.